[Arterial pressure in adolescents]

We have studied 932 high school and professional institute students aged fifteen to eighteen in Madrid, of which 406 were males and 526 females. Blood pressure measurements were taken on all the individuals on three separate occasions. The recorded values are expressed in percentiles for age and sex. We have found lower diastolic blood pressure levels than those reported so far in the literature, in agreement with the values recorded by us in children between two and fourteen years old. The prevalence of hypertension in the population studied was 3%, higher in males than in females (4.67% and 1.61%, respectively). We assume the idea that the measurement of blood pressure in teenagers is mandatory because of the high prevalence of arterial hypertension in this age group.